diff --git a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/Commons/Color.qml b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/Commons/Color.qml
index f9521c54..fc3d35ec 100644
--- a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/Commons/Color.qml
+++ b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/Commons/Color.qml
@@ -119,8 +119,8 @@ QtObject {
     var match = String(raw || "").match(/\$activeBorderColor\s*=\s*rgba?\(([0-9A-Fa-f]{6,8})\)/)
     if (!match) { border = accent; return }
     var hex = match[1]
-    // rgba() in hyprland is AARRGGBB; strip the AA prefix and use the RGB.
-    if (hex.length === 8) hex = hex.substring(2)
+    // Hyprland rgba() is RRGGBBAA; strip the AA suffix and use RGB.
+    if (hex.length === 8) hex = hex.substring(0, 6)
     border = "#" + hex
   }
 
diff --git a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/notifications/Service.qml b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/notifications/Service.qml
index 6e35f3c5..90887dfd 100644
--- a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/notifications/Service.qml
+++ b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/notifications/Service.qml
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ Item {
   //   }
   // All keys optional; unset keys fall back to the live Color.* tokens.
   readonly property string themeOverridePath: home + "/.config/omarchy/current/theme/notifications.json"
+  readonly property string themeNamePath: home + "/.config/omarchy/current/theme.name"
 
   // Corner radius is shared with omarchy-shell menu and settings panel —
   // `omarchy style corners <sharp|round>` writes this file once and every
@@ -84,7 +85,9 @@ Item {
   property string overrideText: ""
   property string overrideCountdown: ""
 
-  readonly property color effectiveBorder: overrideBorder.length > 0 ? overrideBorder : Color.border
+  // Match the compact mako-style layout, but keep colors live-bound to the
+  // current Omarchy theme unless a theme explicitly ships notifications.json.
+  readonly property color effectiveBorder: overrideBorder.length > 0 ? overrideBorder : Color.accent
   readonly property color effectiveBackground: overrideBackground.length > 0 ? overrideBackground : Color.background
   readonly property color effectiveText: overrideText.length > 0 ? overrideText : Color.foreground
   readonly property color effectiveCountdown: overrideCountdown.length > 0 ? overrideCountdown : Color.accent
@@ -105,6 +108,7 @@ Item {
   }
 
   FileView {
+    id: themeOverrideFile
     path: service.themeOverridePath
     watchChanges: true
     printErrors: false
@@ -113,6 +117,18 @@ Item {
     onFileChanged: reload()
   }
 
+  // Theme switching recreates ~/.config/omarchy/current/theme, which can leave
+  // the notifications.json watcher attached to the old symlink target. Watch
+  // theme.name (overwritten in place) as the stable tripwire and force a fresh
+  // override reload; if the new theme has no override, onLoadFailed clears the
+  // old colors instead of leaving stale theme-specific notification styling.
+  FileView {
+    path: service.themeNamePath
+    watchChanges: true
+    printErrors: false
+    onFileChanged: themeOverrideFile.reload()
+  }
+
   // Fired by IPC (`omarchy-shell-ipc notifications showHistory`) so the
   // bar widget can drop its PopupCard from the same anchor a click would.
   signal historyOpenRequested()
diff --git a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/notifications/components/NotificationCard.qml b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/notifications/components/NotificationCard.qml
index 559f2b72..c004f9b3 100644
--- a/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/notifications/components/NotificationCard.qml
+++ b/default/quickshell/omarchy-shell/plugins/notifications/components/NotificationCard.qml
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ Rectangle {
   // Add 2 * border.width so mainColumn (inset by border.width on top/left/right)
   // doesn't push content under the bottom edge. The bottom edge is also inset
   // for symmetry except when the progress bar replaces it.
-  implicitHeight: mainColumn.implicitHeight + border.width * 2 + (showProgress ? 3 : 0)
+  implicitHeight: mainColumn.implicitHeight + border.width * 2
   radius: cornerRadius
   color: backgroundColorOverride
   border.color: urgency === 2 ? Color.urgent : borderColorOverride
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ Rectangle {
         // Hide the slot when the icon failed to resolve (themed-icon name
         // not in the user's icon theme) AND we don't have a glyph fallback
         // — prevents rendering Qt's pink broken-image placeholder.
-        visible: root.hasSmallIcon && (root.hasGlyph || smallIconImage.status !== Image.Error)
+        visible: false
 
         Image {
           id: smallIconImage
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ Rectangle {
     anchors.bottom: parent.bottom
     height: 3
     color: root.borderColorOverride
-    visible: root.showProgress
+    visible: false
 
     Rectangle {
       anchors.left: parent.left